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Speaker 1: Welcome to Gardening with Ben. You'll go to podcast for

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all things green and growing in twenty twenty five. Whether

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you're a seasoned gardener, a budding enthusiast, or just curious

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about cultivating your own slice of nature, you're in the

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right place. Join me Ben as we explore practical tips,

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inspiring stories, and the latest trends in gardening to make

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your outdoor space bloom with life, from a lotment adventures

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to wildlife friendly gardening. I'm here to help you grow

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your passion and read the rewards. So grab your gloves,

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roll up your sleeves, and let's get started on this

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year's gardening journey. Hey everybody, and welcome back to Gardening

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with Ben. Yes, we're still alive. We're still here. And

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I know I keep saying that I'll do these podcasts regularly,

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and then I disappear again, and then I come back

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again and with the neighbors. But yes, we are back

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for a new podcast today. And it's nearly the end

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of February. So there's no point doing my podcast on

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what Plant in February as it's nearly at the end

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of the month. But we shall do our podcast for

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What's Plant in March coming up in the next few days,

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so stay tuned for that. And we don't really start

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sewing stuff until March. Anywhere. March is the main sewing time.

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You're best off not sewing anything in February. You're best

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off wait until it gets that little bit warmer and

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reliable on things germinated. So where have we been, What

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have we been up to? Why did we disappear? The

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questions you may ask, But we have been obviously putting

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more YouTube videos up. We've been putting quite a few

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of those up at the moment, and one's just gone

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up of a tour of my allotment, so you can

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have a look around my plot, see what's growing and

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what's not growing. We're going to a bit of detail

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of what we're planning on doing on our allotment as

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well this year, sharing some of the things what I've

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got going off in my head on where i want

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things to grow and how I want it to grow,

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and just sharing with you how things are looking on

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my plot at the moment. So make sure you're going

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and check out that YouTube video what I've just posted.

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We've also posted one about what free seeds you get

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in the Grow your Own magazine this month as well

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as that's one of my favorite magazines, the Grow your

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Own Magazine and the Kitchen Garden magazine where it shares

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ten three packets of seeds every month. I know it's

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not free because you're paying six ninety nine, but it

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feels like it's free and it's worthwhile to be honest,

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because the packets are worth more than a pound each generally,

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so you're getting your money's worth out of them. So

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where have we been up to and what have we

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been doing. Well, we've had a little trip to Manchester.

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I needed a nice little break and that was to

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go and see my favorite TV show, Neighbors, which the

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day after I found out it was getting axed, So

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I'm glad I went and saw that show in Manchester.

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We also did a tour of Combination Street and I

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met the famous Tracy Barlow, so yeah, that was very good.

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She was a lot more nervous in real life than

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I thought she would have been. I thought she would

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have been a strong person, but yeah, she were very nervous,

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but it was great to see her. And then yeah,

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I just went and did a bit of touring around

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the city. So what have we been up to on

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our allotment recently. Well, we have been obviously keeping the

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birds fed on a regular basis. I'm fighting with those

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squibvels at the moment. I'm not happy at all. Every

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time when I go down there's bird feeder missing and

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I end up having to look all over my plot

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for bird feeder. What's gone missing? The squibrels keep pinching

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them and taking them down my plot, so thankfully I

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keep finding them, so I've not had to buy anymore,

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but they've chewed through some of them, so I've had

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to replace my nut war way squirrel proof holders. So

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they weren't that expensive, but hopefully they'll last down the

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squirrels won't be able to chew fool them. But since

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we've done that, the squirrels have now started winning my

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shed where I storm my bird food and actually opening

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up tupperware boxes and getting inside and eating the seed

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and the nuts. You can't win, can you. I do

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love to see the squirrel as well, but they're just

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a bloody pain. So yeah, that has been our bird

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update and our squirrel update. We're seeing the robins on

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a regular basis. They're always around and we've seen quite

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a few more blue tis as well now, so I'm

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hoping that they do find the bird houses and they

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do nest in them this year, because that will be

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amazing to have the birds nesting on my allotment for

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a third year in a row, and hopefully we'll be

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able to get some footage of that if that happens.

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So we've been doing that, We've been feeding the birds.

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We have obviously also started a few things off from seed.

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Like I said, it's best off waiting until next month,

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but I got a bit too eager, and quite a

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few people have commented on the pers saying you're too early,

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You're too early. But I have method in my madness.

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So I've started off some melons. What I've started growing.

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I've potted them on because they have grown a bit leggy,

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so hopefully this will survive and still be all right,

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and have potted all them up. There's about twenty of them,

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I think ten, fifteen to twenty maybe of them. We've

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also shown all our melon varieties that we've got. We've

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got six other varieties, so we're going to be inundated

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with melons fingers crossed this year, which I can't wait

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for because I absolutely love melons, absolutely gorgeous to taste,

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and if we get some good crops, I'll be happy

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with them, because melons are expensive as well to buy,

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so I've done all them. We've also started off some

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gig gigantic tomatoes. Now these are the biggest tomatoes ever

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to be grown, and these were released in twenty twenty four,

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so I'm hoping for some giant tomatoes. We won't be

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growing those outdoors because they'll struggle to get ripen, but

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we'll grow those in the polytunnel where it'll hopefully be

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a lot hotter and we'll be able to keep it

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out of them specifically, so we've started them off. We've

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obviously also got as peppers growing as well. They're growing fantastic.

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They're all potted up and they're currently sat in my

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flat at the moment, so we're keeping them warm and

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I'll take them down to the allotment probably in March

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when it starts to warm up, because we don't want

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to take them down there. Have a cold spell and

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it killed them off. So we've got all them sown.

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But next month is the vital month when I'll be

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sewing all my seats. Literally everything will be getting sown,

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so make sure he's stay tuned for that and missharing

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the videos and the tips on that. So we've been

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doing all that. We've obviously also been doing some repairs

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to the polytonol. We've been getting that all in order.

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Mind you, after today's wind, I might need to repair

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it again. It might have actually blown away this time.

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We are waiting for the day when it actually does

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blow off and non repayable. But we keep on fastening

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it back up and it keeps lasting another year. So

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while ever I keep doing that, I'm happy with it.

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And if it does ever come off my polytomol cover,

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I'll just replace it with netting instead and have it

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like as a cabbage frame type thing to stop butterflies

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and stuff eating the cabbages. So I'll do it as

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a Brassic cage if that does happen. So yeah, we've

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been doing that. We've obviously been keeping the plot in tidy,

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tidying it all up, getting it all in shape. I've

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still got a lot to do. I've got on the

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bed to tidy up and screw back together, get them

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all painted, which is another job, but we won't do

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that until spring comes, until it starts getting dry, because

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we don't want to paint and then it just all

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wash off again because it doesn't last long at all.

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That would paint what you get by. It certainly doesn't

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on my allotment, that's for sure. So we'll be painting

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all them up and making them look nice. So yeah,

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we have been very busy down at the plot in

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recent times, and I'm prepping myself ready for that March

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season because that's when all the gardeners rejoice. That's when

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we all get happy. That's when we all start sewing

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those seeds and going down visiting every day, seeing waiting

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for that new life to come. Because that is the

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reason why I say to do all these jobs on

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your allotment that need doing any repairs, any maintenance, any

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changes to it throughout the winter period because March onwards

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you are busy with sowing the seeds, potting them on,

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keeping on watered. That takes a lot of time up.

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So that's why I use the winter period to get

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my allotment turned over and get it all tidy ready

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for the year ahead. So hopefully we will be back

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with some more episodes. We won't disappear again. They might

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not be as regular, but we'll start putting them out

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there and doing a few more regular at least three

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a week. We'll give it a try, as I do

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know people like them and I have had messages off

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people saying that they're missing them. So I am back

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every so often. I just won't commit myself to doing

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them for every day at the moment because it is

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a hard job recording them and uploading them and stuff

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like that. So yeah, I hope that you've enjoyed this episode,

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And if you have not checked out my YouTube videos,

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go and check them out because we're putting quite a

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few YouTube videos up there now if you all to watch,

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because I know people like to see the visual side

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of things. It's okay me talking about what I'm doing,

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but people like to see what I'm actually doing and

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that I have actually gotten a lot but I'm not

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just talking. But yeah, I hope that you enjoy the videos,

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and if you're not following us on Instagram and Facebook,

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give us a follow on there where we stay keep

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you up there with pictures and sharing what we are

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getting up to as well. So until next time, everyone,

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remember keep smiling, keep shining and keep gardening with Ben. Everyone,

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thanks for tuning in to today's episode of Gardening with Ben.

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I hope you've enjoyed our chat and picked up some

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tips to help your garden and allotment drive. Don't forget

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to stay connected with me on all social media for

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even more gardening inspiration, updates and behind the scenes content.

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You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Just

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search Gardening with Ben, Hit that follow button or subscribe

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button and join our growing community of garden lovers. Until

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next time, everyone, remember keep smiling, keep shining, and keep

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gardening with Ben.